Oh bee-have

It is feeling more and more like fall here at Briar Ridge. The trees on the golf course are turning colors, and the last of our fall plants are flowering. The native areas on the golf course have more meaning for me now than they ever have.
The flowers shown below are the last nectar flow for our bees. This important food supply will boost the honey production that we will soon harvest. Mr. Valvanis and I were excited for this years harvest. We were expecting over fifty pounds of honey as two of our hives were strong. Then reality set in.
We witnessed first hand what we believe is colony collapse disorder. Our second hive weakened by bees failing to return from daily gathering made the hive susceptible to intruders. The intruder in this case was the wax moth (TBD). We lost the entire hive and over twenty pounds of honey.
What was gained however, was a very real understanding about the environmental situations we are facing. We knew about colony collapse, read about it, but it just wasn't real. "Not here," I thought, problems exist somewhere else, for other people, in other lands. Not so.
I have a new appreciation for the land I steward, a boost that I needed.
The areas with wild flowers will be cut down, as soon as the flowering stops.
Protecting our resources,
Turf